Only a year after its debut, the Jazz Bass received a new control configuration in 1961 that featured a volume knob for each pickup and a master tone knob—a classic control arrangement that endures to this day. The 1961 Jazz Bass Heavy Relic is a faithful recreation of the time-honored original, with a few custom features prized by players worldwide. The two-piece alder body, hand selected for weight and grain, wears a Heavy Relic lacquer finish. The quartersawn maple neck features a ’60-style Jazz Bass “U” profile, topped by a 9.5”-radius flat-lam rosewood fingerboard with 20 medium jumbo frets for comfort and perfect action along the entire length of the neck.

As with the now-familiar control arrangement that first appeared in mid 1961, the hand-wound vintage Jazz bass pickups each have their own volume control, with a master tone knob. Other features include a four-ply brown shell pickguard, vintage-style bass bridge with threaded steel saddles, vintage-style tuning machines, bone nut and disk string tree. Also includes deluxe hardshell case, strap, string mutes and certificate of authenticity.